Shredded Cherry Blossoms
by FieryHorizon
Summary: This became the routine,Sakura would keep putting up with the abuse, and she would go to her teammates, under the guise of them not telling about what was going on, for comfort and a slice of sanity…but a certain teammate was losing his. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Hmm, random plot bunny. Tell me what you think? Should I keep going with this one or no? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...Sadface.**

**xxx**

She laid curled in on herself, the ground more welcoming to her body than her own hands. She refused to look him in the face when he hit her, why give him the sick satisfaction he so craves? As long as her team didn't notice the next morning, she could care less. She was learning rather quickly as of late that she didn't really care for much nowadays…how long ago did this start? Her pink hair was darkened by the maroon life liquid that drenched it, coagulating with clumps of dirt in her strands.

She refused to do a lot of things, like admit out loud that she was being abused, or ask for help. Excuse after excuse. She even went as far as to blame it on a patient at the hospital. She just couldn't bring herself to slap him around in return, she always stuck up for her teammates when need be, but why couldn't she do that now? When she needed her backbone the most? Was it because she thought that they were once related somehow?

xxx

The wind had picked up, Naruto noticed as he was sparring with Sai and Kakashi. Not a word was spoken before their fight began, not even when they all collapsed beneath the nearest tree for shelter from the harsh sun did they speak. Sai was, of course, the first one to state the obvious.

"Sakura's late again." Kakashi didn't respond, but it was glaringly obvious that his body had tensed at the mention of their missing teammate.

"Maybe she got caught up at the hospital or something." Naruto said, trying ignorantly to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he knew that she made that excuse one too many times, he wasn't nearly as dense as he used to be, nor was he much of an idiot as he led others to believe.

"She'll be here when she gets here." Kakashi said, dismissing any further conversation about it with his authoritative tone, one he usually reserved for misbehaving genin that he was stuck teaching for the next year.

"But…" Naruto started but stopped short as he saw said teammate standing at the edge of the bridge where they normally met up at before they began their training or missions. One by one, the men slowly stood up and walked towards Sakura's figure. The closer they got, the more they realized that she was barely aware of their presences until they were nearly on top of her.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto gasped as he saw bandages covering her arms from fingertip to shoulder blade. Kakashi tensed next to him, and Sai just looked on with slight curiosity.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry I'm late…" her voice shook with each syllable, as she tried to keep her composure.

"Nevermind that, what happened to you?" Naruto nearly yelled, but managed to keep his voice at a tolerable level. She didn't respond, but tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"What are you talking about?" she asked innocently, when they all knew better, she definitely was not the stupid one out of the group. Kakashi gently touched the bandages where they covered her shoulder and flinched when he felt dampness underneath his fingertips. As he retracted his hand, he noticed that the bandages were now covered in a crimson color where his fingers had just been pressed against. A stretch of uncomfortable silence covered the group of normally chatty ninja.

"Sakura…" Kakashi whispered, his voice colored with disbelief. A tear dropped from her porcelain face and hit the wood on the bridge with a nearly audible plop.

"I'm sorry guys…I just…had an accident." Another tear slipped down her other cheek, confirming the fact that she was indeed lying to them. Kakashi grabbed her wrist with a force that made her flinch away from the contact.

"Sakura. Tell us what the hell is going on." He nearly growled, it wasn't like him to show his affection or overprotectiveness of his fellow teammates. Sakura averted her eyes from his single gray one in an attempt to distance herself from what he was asking her.

"It's nothing. I have it under control." She spoke barely above a whisper.

"That's bullshit!" Naruto shouted, breaking the strained silence and atmosphere that had been created amongst the group.

"Naruto…" Kakashi warned, with his eye still fixed on Sakura's downcast ones. Naruto's abrasive tone wasn't going to get them anywhere near the truth.

"I…need to handle this on my own, guys." She whispered, finally looking at them as she spoke. Her emerald eyes were glistening with unshed tears as her bottom lip quivered with the effort of not crying in front of them.

"We cannot keep ignoring it, Sakura-san." Sai spoke up in a more professional manner, making Naruto and Kakashi glare at him. However, neither of them could deny the truth in his statement. She took a shaky breath as she nodded in agreement.

"You have to promise to keep your mouths shut about it then." She looked around at each of her friends as they nodded their consent to her conditions.

"I'm…." she couldn't bring herself to say the word 'abuse'. They waited semi-patiently for her to sum up that courage and strength that she was known so well for.

"Being…" she didn't understand where she got her powerlessness from out of nowhere, but it was starting to become her personality as of late. Kakashi, Naruto and Sai seemed to be leaning in a bit further towards her, waiting for the rest of the sentence, that they already had a feeling they knew and suspected all along, but that fact alone did not stop their blood from boiling and their hearts from breaking at the next word,

"Abused…" She broke down in a pile of sobs and tears, on her knees with her hands covering her tear-streaked face, she let Naruto wrap his arms around her lithe body as he tried to avoid any tender spots from earlier.

This became the routine…Sakura would keep putting up with the abuse, and she would go to her teammates, under the guise of them not telling a soul about what was really going on, for comfort and a slice of sanity…but little did she know…a certain teammate was slowly losing his sanity and patience with it…

**And that's all she wrote...(for now?) Tell me what ya think! =) thanks for reading and stopping by.**

**-FH**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yoo. Thanks for all the faves/alerts/reviews guys =) I'm glad you liked it! So here's the official first chapter, tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, obviously. **

xxxx

The days were becoming shorter and the nights longer for Sakura as she trudged between training with her team, the hospital and…her house. She tried her damndest to spend as little time as possible at her house, if she could not see him again for the rest of her life, she would be happier than a pig in slop.

That just wasn't her luck, however, as she ran into a certain person she was trying to avoid on her way back to the hospital. His dark green eyes bore into hers and she cursed the fact that she had similar irises. He smiled slightly as to not draw attention to their interaction.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." She tried her best not to cringe at the suffix.

"Hello Ryo-san." She replied curtly, trying to get the meeting over with. He moved closer to her and put his hand forcefully on her shoulder, to prevent her from moving away from him, towards the hospital. She smiled tightly, and attempted to get away from his grip, which resulted in him pushing his fingertips into her pressure points. Grunting from the pain, she spoke

"What brings you here?" his smile grew wider at her attempt at small talk.

"I was actually hoping to find you…" he trailed off and let his arm fall loosely at his side. She didn't respond right away, which seemed to anger him even more.

"Where have you been lately? You're never home anymore." He nearly snarled, gaining some dirty looks from those walking around them.

"I've been really busy with training and the hospital and all…" she averted her eyes from his as she spoke. Her chin was then caught in his rough grasp as he yanked her face towards his own.

"You're not avoiding your old uncle, now are you?" he smiled, that smile she always hated. That 'I've got you where I want you now' smile. She just nodded her head in a negative fashion while biting her bottom lip to keep from crying.

"Sakura! We need you in the ICU immediately." Tsunade shouted from the top step of the stairs leading towards the hospitals double doors. Ryo released his hold on her and smiled falsely. Before she could leave to get back to work, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear so Tsunade couldn't hear,

"I'll assume you'll be home tonight, no?" it was a rhetorical question, and she knew it as she just swallowed thickly and nodded affirmatively.

"Who was that?" Tsunade asked quietly as she led Sakura into the hospitals main entrance. Sakura didn't answer right away, and opted to avoid it all together.

"What did you need? Where's the emergency?" she tried changing the subject, the last thing she needed right now was for her sensei to get on her case and learn things that she (especially as Hokage) would be better off not knowing.

"There isn't an emergency, Sakura." Tsunade's clipped tone met the pink-haired girls ears, making her stop and turn on her heel.

"What do you mean there's no emergency?" Sakura hissed, it's not like her to joke or play with things like that. She thought slowly to herself, as realization dawned on her features. Tsunade confirmed her suspicions aloud,

"I just saw you with that guy, and he seemed to be a bit aggressive and you didn't seem appreciative of it, so I lied." Her hands were now fixed on her hips as she fixed her student with a steady gaze.

"Oh…I'm sorry, I was just on my way to do rounds here, and I ran into him, that's all." Sakura laughed nervously as she tried blowing off Tsunade's inquisitive gaze.

"As long as it doesn't interrupt your work here, I can let it go this time. I get a bad feeling from him, I don't want to see him around here anymore, understood?" she didn't wait for Sakura's answer, and instead headed down the hall while yelling behind her back,

"I'll do your rounds for you today, go get some rest, you look winded." With a heavy sigh, Sakura obliged and pushed her way through the incoming wave of nurses and patients to the front doors of the hospital.

Xxx

Her hands were shaky as she replayed the confrontation over and over again in her head. What bothered her most about it all was that she had more strength than ten men in her one finger, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to raise her hand back to her uncle. She flung a kunai at the wood post in front of her as she mulled her thoughts over in her head. One after another, she emptied her kunai pouch into the poor wood near her. As she approached the pillars to retrieve her weapons she remembered what happened to her the last time she had spent too much time away from the house, when she had tried to move out and on her own.

_She awoke to a pounding on her front door at the other end of the apartment. As groggy as she was, she still felt a certain panic rising in her throat as she approached the door that was now rattling off the hinges from the excessive force being used on the other end. She knew it had to be him, there was no way her teammates would make so much noise…then again, they would just knock on her bedroom window. _

_ "Who…who is it?" she asked shakily, as she slowly reached for the handle of the door, her legs nearly giving out on her due to the raw fear coursing through her veins. She stopped her hand as she heard the voice on the other side._

_ "Who the fuck do you _think _it is?" her uncle's voice broke through the fog of her sleep-deprived mind causing her to let her hand fall to her side. _

_ "Don't let him get to you…" she whispered aloud to herself as she sat down with her back against the rattling wood of the front door. Thank Kami she didn't have any neighbors. _

_ "He'll go away eventually if you just ignore it…just ignore it." she kept whispering to herself as she rocked back and forth and tears fell from her eyes. How long could she let this go on? How long has it been since the pounding began?_

_ "For crying out loud, let me the fuck _in!_" he shouted again, breaking the trance she had thrown herself into haphazardly. _

_ "If you don't…" she could tell by the slight slur of his words, that he was at least slightly intoxicated. "I'll go after your precious friends." He spat out the last words and her whole body seized up. He wouldn't dare…he wouldn't…he would. _

_ She slowly got up, onto her feet and let one of the locks switch open and reached for the next one. If it wasn't for the fact that he used to be a very formidable Shinobi, she wouldn't have taken his threat seriously. She refused to let any of her teammates to suffer because of her own stupidity. _

_**What stupidity? **__Her inner voice came through, for the first time in a very long time._

_**What did you ever do to this asshole? **__She nearly spat from the inner depths of her mind._

_**Was it because you were born? Or is it because he blames you for your parents being- **__before she could finish her sentence, Sakura had let the other lock come undone and let the door swing open and slam against the wall behind it. He loomed above her, even as he stood in the doorway a few feet away from her. His light red hair was matted down from the rain that was pouring down from the Heavens, and his deep green eyes held a certain edge to them as he regarded her with anger and disgust. _

_ "What the fuck…" he entered the house and slowly closed the door behind him and approached Sakura, who had been stepping backwards until her back hit the wall between the foyer and her dining room. "is your problem?" he yelled as he slammed her against the wall, causing the nearest picture frame to fall to the ground and shatter. She didn't answer, she never really did, she always seemed to lose her voice in these moments…the moments she needed it the most. _

_ "I asked what the fuck your problem was!" he yelled again and put his fist through the wall next to her face, causing her whole body to shake in fear and anticipation of a fight at the same time. Again, she seemed to be too frozen to answer him correctly._

_ "I…I didn't…hear the door at first." She fiddled with the words as they fell out of her mouth. His laugh echoed throughout the house as did the smack that landed across her face, causing her face to snap in the same direction as his hand. _

_ "Bullshit." His face was in hers now, and she could clearly smell the liquor that seemed to be radiating off of him. _

_ "Do you think because I'm no longer a ninja that I'm suddenly stupid? Do you think just because I am your father's brother, that I'd have sympathy for you because he's dead? Newsflash! It's _your fault._" He began swinging with his closed fist as he finished his sentence, and Sakura allowed it, she did nothing to stop him, she had no idea why she always let it happen, why she never stopped him. Maybe it was because she still saw him as the last traces of her father, a life ended prematurely. Or maybe it was because she blamed herself too, and believed that she deserved anything he did to her…_

She didn't know how long she was reminiscing for, but one thing was for sure: she didn't even register that her teammates had also arrived at the training area and were all staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" she asked uncertainly, then she realized that she was sweating and shaking all over, and instead of standing and picking up the kunais like she thought she was doing before the memory, she was slouched against the wooden pillar with her kunai abandoned at her side.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked as he knelt down in front of her and stretched his hand out to move a piece of hair out of her face. As his hand neared her face she flinched and turned her head away from his touch. Naruto retracted his hand as if he had been burned and realized that she was far from okay.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked as he moved forward to stand behind his younger teammate. Sai hovered further behind; it was obvious that he wasn't very good with such things. Silence consumed the group as they awaited her response. Finally, she moved from the ground and stood up and began gathering her kunai from the stumps, determined to not speak of what she remembered, or what happened to her earlier in the day.

"Sakura…" Naruto went to touch her shoulder again and thought better of it, and instead began helping her retrieve her weapons from the wood that they were imbedded in. She shrugged off the questioning glances as she replenished her kunai pouch.

"What happened?" Kakashi repeated, getting more and more frustrated with her stubborn silence. It's not like they haven't been here before, he thought that with their newly made pact of being open about the abuse, but not to anybody but those within the team, that she would be a little more open in general if anything else were to happen.

"I was just remembering some things, is all." Which wasn't a lie, but they all knew that it couldn't have been the whole truth, and she sensed their distress at her answer.

"I…don't know what you guys expect me to say." She was becoming frustrated, it had been a long day already and they had yet to train, and she still had to go back to…him.

"We want you to be honest with us." Sai piped in, receiving a death glare from the woman he was talking to.

"I am being honest with you guys." She snapped back at him, if it was anybody but Sai she would have definitely felt bad for her misplaced anger.

"Fine. Don't tell us if you don't want to." Kakashi said as he took a battle ready stance,

"You'll just have to relay it to use with your actions, then." She looked at him with disbelief staining her facial features. _He can't be serious, right? _she thought to herself, but found everybody else around her taking on a fighting stance as well, causing her to naturally fall into one herself.

"Fine." Was all she said as she charged towards Kakashi with a chakra laced fist intent to show him just how frustrating and long her day had been.

Xxx

They all laid beneath the cover of the trees as they panted and tried to calm down from the vicious spar they just had.

"Feeling any better?" Naruto asked in her general direction and she just nodded, even though it took her mind off of things for a bit, she also knew in the back of her head that she still had to confront her uncle later.

"Oi, y'know, Sakura-chan, we're going to go get some ramen after – Kakashi's treat!- " Kakashi shot up at the mention of him spending money at a ramen place with Naruto eating, "You're more than welcome to join us! I'm sure we'd all love it if you would!"

"What's this about it being my treat?" Kakashi asked blankly, obviously offended that he was so ready to offer up his hard earned money for his unhealthy ramen obsession.

"I would love to…" Naruto automatically perked up as he heard, "But… I can't… I have something to take care of before I do anything else." She lowered her eyes and fought off the idea of having to go home so she wouldn't get beat…as bad.

"Aww, can't it wait until after you eat, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined slightly causing his teammates to grunt in irritation.

"Yes. You should eat something first at least, Sakura." Sai said with his fake smile plastered on his otherwise blank face.

"There's no going against that. It's settled then, as Naruto's treat –" At this, Naruto glared at him "You should most definitely join us." Kakashi said with a curved eyeball meaning that he was smiling beneath his mask.

"I really can't, guys." She said firmly, avoiding their glares.

"Why not?" Naruto asked with a slight pout.

"I just can't."

"Come on, Sakura-chan! That's not an excuse." The blonde pushed

"I can't."

"Just say yes to him, Sakura, so he'll shut up." Kakashi grunted.

"I can't, Kakashi." She replied getting more and more irritated as the banter continued.

"At least tell me why then!" Naruto screamed, frustrated beyond all belief.

"If I don't go home right after training, I'll get beaten even worse, is that what you wanted to hear?" she screamed back, and realized too late just what she had said to him and the hurt look on his face made her feel like the biggest asshole in the world.

"Sakura…" he said as a surge of anger flooded him, and by the looks on Kakashi's face, he wasn't the only one that felt anger at her sudden confession.

"Look…I have to go." She spoke hurriedly as she grabbed her belongings and before anybody could stop her, she took off towards her house.

xx

**That's all she wrote, folks! Tell me anything I need to improve on/what I did good on/ should I continue? =)**

**-FH**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there guys! Thanks for all the faves/alerts/reviews! It means a lot to me 3.**

**so, here's the next chapter. (I'm sorry that it seems so short :( I've just been busy lately, and I wanted to get it out when I could.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

The team ate in silence, neither of them really having the heart to speak which was unnatural for the present company. Naruto sat eating his noodles slowly, as if he wasn't interested in his favorite dish. Kakashi and Sai weren't oblivious to it, but chose to ignore it and not voice their concern, while they were swirling in their own.

Kakashi tried to keep some semblance of normality by pulling out his favorite little book and burying his nose in it. As he read along the lines, he realized that he had to keep reading over them, to get even one word to stick in his mind. He just couldn't get Sakura's words out of his mind, he had half a mind to stomp his way to her house and confront her uncle. But he knew better, he knew that if he did something reckless like that – if any of them on her team did something reckless like that – she would have to probably pay for it in the worst ways.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto called his name hesitantly, while giving him a concerned glare. He glanced back at his teammate with his head cocked to the side in a questioning manner.

"Are you okay?" he asked once he had his attention.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" He sighed nonchalantly.

"Because the death grip on your book is saying otherwise, and you're scrunching the cover." Naruto replied with a small, empathetic smile. Without responding Kakashi loosened his grip on his book and gave an eye-crinkling smile back. Sai sighed next to him and decided to break his own silence,

"I know you guys have been avoiding talking about this but…we have to do something to help Sakura." He stated with an undertone of…emotion in his voice, which was unusual for him. Silence descended on the group again as they all nodded their agreement.

Xxxxx

Her feet dragged along the gravel driveway that led to the front porch of her house. The sun had begun to set a while ago, even though she had yelled at her team for not understanding what would happen if she were late, she still took extra time to herself before she made the journey home.

Each creak of the steps leading up the porch to the front door seemed much louder than necessary. Even though it was dark, there weren't any lights on in the house. She didn't know what to think of that as she turned the key in the lock – which didn't click, signifying that he was indeed home. She almost smiled in relief when she realized that if he was home and there were no lights on, he must be sleeping. Knowing that, she didn't bother to hesitate turning the light on in the foyer as she entered, letting her jacket hang on one of the knobs next to the door, and tossing her shoes on top of the others.

The small smile she had allowed herself to display slowly dissolved as the light in the living room flickered on to reveal a pair of hardened green eyes and a set and determined frown as well. Her relieved smile melted into a smaller form of one, done out of 'respect' for the man sitting across from her in the living room.

"It's awfully late." He said while glancing out the window that he sat next to, almost as if to note out loud to her that it was dark, and way past when he was expecting her to return. She bounced from one foot to the other in anticipation and anxiety.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up with my team." He didn't reply right away, making her feel kind of self-conscious. He slowly stood from his perch, with long meaningful strides, he made his way to her. As he stopped in front of her, she realized an all too familiar smell on his breath. _So he's drunk again? _She thought bitterly as she just stared back at him, waiting for something to be said.

"I see." _That's it? _She thought incredulously, it's never that easy with this man. He took a small step backwards and turned sideways as if he was going up the stairs to his right. Just as she was about to say goodnight to him, assuming that he was heading to bed now that she was home again, her head jolted to the side with force and she cursed herself under her breath. _I should have seen that one coming. _Trying to hold back the anger and frustration, she kept her head in that position, hoping that he was done now.

"Don't try and lie to me. You're not planning on leaving again, are you?" he asked while pulling a cigarette from his front left breast pocket, and lighting it while keeping his eyes on hers.

"No." her voice was strained as she kept her emotions at bay, if only she could get the hell out of this place. He didn't appear to be pleased by this short answer as his lithe frame leaned backwards against the wall next to the staircase.

"I sure hope you wouldn't do something so careless again, you remember what happened the last time you tried something reckless like that, don't you?" he was closer to her again as he finished his sentence, venom dripping on the last two words. She tried not to flinch as he blew a cloud of smoke into her face; she always hated the smell of cigarettes. Offhandedly, she wondered if that was why he picked the habit up again. She shook her head in a negative fashion.

His hand was quick as it roughly grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look into his hateful eyes, her jaw cracked under the pressure, sending a wave of pain through her head. He smiled as he heard it, as well as felt it.

"Where do you think you got your chakra skills from?" He sneered, a rhetorical question, really.

"Now tell me, what were you really doing? Surely you weren't talking to your team about anything…sensitive, right?" he put emphasis on the word sensitive, and if he wasn't holding her face, she would have surely spat in his.

"No. I did not. I was talking with them about possibly accepting more missions now that we're all on the same team again." She lied as much as possible, hoping that he wouldn't catch on, even though he always seemed to at a later date, making it much more painful to deal with for her. He sighed, a cloud of smoke surrounding his head, causing eerie shadows to cross his facial features.

Before she could register what he had said next, she felt pain. Lots of it as he landed chakra laced hits over and over.

As she slumped forward nearly unconscious she thought to herself _what makes me just let him do this to me? Why can't I just hit him back? Surely I could kick his ass. _As her head hit the wall and she fell the rest of the way to the floor, her mind registered what he had said,

"Did you forget? Today and tomorrow are the anniversaries of the days you caused my family to disappear forever." She would have cried at the cold mention of her parents if she wasn't already slipping into blackness that she was welcoming with open arms.

Stiff neck, pain everywhere and sunlight scorching her eyelids, that's all Sakura felt as she awoke on the wooden floor in front of her front door to her house. For a second she wished that she was dead, for another second she just wished to go back to sleep. Turning on her side, she heard a crumple from underneath her side. Rolling back onto her stomach, she glanced at what caused the noise. A note scribbled out in her Uncle's handwriting caused her to pick it up with an overwhelming sense of weariness.

_I will be gone for a while. _

That was it, nothing that explained where he was going to be, when he would be back or what had caused him to suddenly up and leave. Slowly, she ignored the pain that seared every inch of her body and stood up, planting her feet solidly on the ground. Just as she was about to start healing her injuries, a knock scared her half to death.

"Who is it?" she asked curiously, if it were any of her teammates they would have just walked in after determining she was home alone.

"It's Kakashi, Naruto and Sai." Kakashi's voice filtered through the doorway to her delicate ears. A silence stretched between them, even though they weren't facing each other and couldn't see each other's reactions, she knew that they were ready to knock the door down.

"Um…what's up?" she murmured, trying to start her chakra to heal her wounds before she let them in the house. That was the last thing she needed, for them to see all the bruises and cuts from the night before.

"Can we come in for this?" Kakashi asked politely, obviously just wanting to get in and see if she was okay. With an indignant huff, she realized that since she was knocked unconscious the flow of her chakra had slowed down quite a bit, and she was taking far too long to heal even the smallest bruise. Figuring it was now or never, she uttered the words she should have never said at that current moment.

"Come on in, then." As the door knob turned, she tried to do a henge, to make it all appear as if she were normal, not beaten, battered, and bruised. As if not being able to heal herself right now wasn't bad enough, she didn't have enough chakra concentration to do a simple henge. She would have cried if she had anything left in her at the moment.

"What…" Kakashi gasped as his lone gray eye opening wide.

"The…" Naruto continued as he looked up and down his teammate, surveying the damage.

"Fuck happened?" Kakashi finished with anger lacing every syllable, and from the looks of it, he wasn't the only one that was enraged. Sai was even at a loss of words at the sight of his only female teammate. Naruto's usually cerulean eyes turned a hint of deep red, causing her to bite her lower lip.

"So now what was it that you needed to talk to me about?" she said completely ignoring their outburst two seconds earlier. Two hands grasped her shoulders tightly, causing her to jump back on instinct. Naruto retracted his hands as his hands made fists against his sides. He nearly growled, causing the pink-haired woman to freeze, it was extremely rare to hear Naruto use such a primitive way to convey his emotions to those that he cared about. It was soon that she would realize why he had such a nasty reaction, as Kakashi's face mirrored Naruto's, their eyes hardened on a spot behind her.

"What seems to be the problem?" Sakura's uncle said with a hint of false cheeriness to it.

**I know...cliffhanger XD don't shoot, please!  
****Anywhoo, review, and lemme know what you think! :3 **

**Until next time,**

**-FH**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I'm sorry for the wait T_T, but I hope that you enjoy this regardless! I also apologize if this seems somewhat rushed, but I wanted to get things rolling a little more :). Thanks for the faves/alerts/reviews! They mean the world to me 3.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

When they had left to go to her house they had every intention of telling her that if the abuse didn't stop soon, they would take action. At least that was the plan…, until they entered the house and saw what she looked like.

She looked like she was mauled by a bear…a pack of them. Kakashi tried his hardest not to let his anger leak into his voice, but judging from the chakra spikes in both himself and Naruto, that seemed impossible. Cuts and bruises covered her body, and dried blood oozed from most of them, even her nose and mouth.

Before he could get anything out of her, a voice startled them all into reality again.

"What seems to be the problem?" her uncle said with such false cheeriness Kakashi could have knocked him out, without even lifting a finger. He could see and sense Sakura's whole body tense at the touch of her abuser.

Naruto was ready to snap, one more word from him and he was surely going to kill. Noticing this, Kakashi put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, not a "Don't do it" type of reassurance, more like an "I feel the same way as you do right now" type of reassurance. Ryo cleared his throat, trying to get the attention back on himself, while reiterating himself,

"Is there something I can help you with?" He smiled slightly, a more sadistic smile; as if he was silently saying that there was nothing they could do unless Sakura told them. Little did he know, they already knew all about what he had done to her.

"Tsunade has summoned the team; we stopped by to get Sakura before heading over to the Hokage tower." Kakashi's clipped tone did not go unnoticed by the ex-shinobi that was at the end of some killing intent.

"I see." He released his grip on Sakura's shoulders and instead leaned in towards her, so only she could hear.

"You better lie your ass off to them; I do not want to have to hurt them if they meddle into _family affairs._ Got it?" his false cheeriness had long since vanished as he spat out those words. She just nodded numbly, not daring to look at him or anybody else that stood near her.

"Well, you better get going then. I have to do errands anyway, I had left my money here and had to come back to get It." he tried to make light of the situation in front of the team and he feigned embarrassed laughter.

Kakashi and the others waited until he disappeared – money pouch in hand- out the door to relax and question just what the hell had happened. Sakura bit her lip as she felt her uncle's chakra slowly fade on the edges of her senses.

"Sakura…what happened?" Kakashi repeated what he had said at first but this time without the cursing, which made it a little easier on her.

"Nothing…" she bent down to pick up the discarded note and crumbled the paper in her hand. Before she could walk to the trash to throw it out, Naruto grabbed her wrist lightly, causing her to stop and turn in his direction. However, he wasn't looking at her, instead he was staring down at her arms.

"These don't look like cuts or bruises." He didn't say much else for a few seconds as she felt Sai and Kakashi follow his line of sight.

"Sakura, those are…" she smacked Naruto's hands away and just shot them a look that told them to shut their mouths. As she disappeared into the kitchen to throw out the paper, Naruto turned to look at his ex-sensei, who seemed to be holding onto his anger just as much as himself.

"Kaka-sensei...those were – " Kakashi cut him off, "Yes, Naruto. Those were burns." This time a silence reigned over them as they kept any further thoughts to themselves. Even Sai knew better than to offer any of his 'book advice'.

It took much longer than it should have for them to get out of her house, they had to wait for her to heal her injuries (to the best of her ability, her chakra still a bit sluggish, but quickly returning to normal). As soon as they stepped outside off of the road she lived on and onto the next one, every person, including Sai could be heard letting loose a sigh of relief. Sakura tried to detach herself from the group as much as possible, she hated to admit it to herself but she knew that deep down she was trying to alienate herself from Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai. She figured that the more she distanced herself from them, the easier it would be for their sake. If she seemed indifferent towards them, then maybe her Uncle would just leave them alone, and they would forget all about what she had told them.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said with an air of impatience. She realized belatedly that she was the only one still walking, while the rest of them had stopped. She also realized that they must have been trying to get her attention for a while now. Blushing with embarrassment, she put on a small smile and responded,

"What?"

"We were going to eat, and wanted to know if you would like to join us." He said with an even tone (she almost forgot how much he grew up with recent events involving the village and their old friend, Sasuke.)

"Shouldn't we get to Tsunade first?" she asked incredibly, completely unaware of what was going on really.

"We lied about that." Kakashi said smoothly, while avoiding her eyes. Was he serious? She thought with a bitter tone to herself.

"What do you mean you lied about it?" she snarled at her team leader.

"Just what I said, we wanted to get you out of that house for a while, we figured that would work with…_him._" he nearly spat out the last word. She didn't know why she was so angry that they had lied.

"I'd prefer it if you guys didn't lie to me. I can handle myself." She said, crossing her arms over her chest, her anger slowly kindling inside of her.

"We didn't say that you couldn't, we just wanted to help, Sakura-chan." Naruto chipped in, trying to diffuse the suddenly tense atmosphere.

"I don't recall ever asking for your guys' he-" Sai cut her off this time, much to everybody's surprise.

"We didn't say you asked. We knew that you would not ask. Are we not a team? From what I've learned from you guys, a team is supposed to look out for each other, am I correct?" Kakashi just nodded, his neck suddenly stiff with his aggravation and pent up anger. Naruto nodded along as well, solemnly. Sakura was trying her hardest to keep her anger in balance, what did Sai know anyway? She thought with the same bitter tone as before. It's not like the understood her situation at all…

"You guys don't understand." She sighed, not so angry anymore, rather more sad. Naruto narrowed his eyes and Kakashi began rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Don't understand what, Sakura?" he asked with an air of disbelief. She hated feeling like she was being ganged up on, even if it was her teammates and they had the best of intentions. She hated when people gave her 'help' without her consent first, it only complicated things for her in the end. It always had and always will. Nobody knew what she was going through besides herself, her situation was the same as theirs. It never had been, even if they could empathize with her it wouldn't change anything, she failed to believe that she could be helped at all anymore when it came to her uncle. She had accepted this, so why couldn't they? It's not like it was them that was being hurt.

"Anything about me, or my situation." She said, an unnerving coolness settling in her tone of voice, causing Kakashi to flinch back at her bitter words.

"We know what that feels like, Sakura. To be beaten and abused, I'm sure we could empathize with you whether we have personally gone through it or not." She tried to ignore him and pay attention to the trees fluttering with birds and wind behind him, on the outskirts of the village. She tried to calm her thoughts and anger down by counting how many windows each house had on the ransacked street.

"I don't want your empathy. I don't want to be a part of a pity-party. I don't mean to hurt you guys, and I think it's best if I left you be, unless we have missions." She was turned around, ready to walk away and was thankful, for she missed the looks on both Naruto and Kakashi's face, but Sai didn't and he tried his hardest to understand the emotions that flickered in Kakashi's lone eye, and Naruto's gaping face.

Normally, he would have run after her. stopped her from doing something so stupid, hell, he would have probably taken her by the shoulders and shaken her to get some sense to come back to her, but this time he did none of those things. He watched her back as she walked away, his heart cracking with each step she took, he didn't know how or when, but he knew for a while now that he had something there, between the cracked and hardened walls he had built around his heart for her. Seeing her like this, seeing her close herself off to any help from those she should trust implicitly, hurt him deep down, making him remember his other teammates he had failed to protect. He could not – no – he **would **not make the same mistakes again, he refused to let another person he cared for go down a dangerous path. Whether she wanted his help or not, he was going to give it to her…even if she hated him for it to the ends of time.

Days had gone by, and yet nobody had heard anything from Sakura, the hospital had said she took a 'vacation'. When Kakashi had asked one of the older nurses, she said that she seemed distraught when she came in to request the time off, and knowing that she had seemed off lately she gave it to her without complaint.

_"Something was weird about it though, she begged me not to tell Tsunade that she had asked for a vacation from the hospital. I usually don't question things that the youngsters these days ask for or do, but with her I couldn't help but think that something was seriously wrong. I have not seen her since then." _

Kakashi kept going over his conversation with the nurse over and over in his head. He didn't know why but he couldn't shake this bad feeling that their little cherry blossom was torn right now, and not torn on two choices but…literally torn. He shook the feeling and tossed himself face first into his bed, trying to ignore his instincts that told him to go straight to the Hokage about what has been happening.

"Perhaps I should ask around a little more, see if she's been in contact with any of Rookie 9 or something." He murmured to himself against the cool side of his pillow. With a deep sigh weighed down by worry and age, he lurched back up and off his bed, dead-set on getting some information whether he wanted to hear the answers to his questions or not.

Naruto sat idly staring at his full bowl of ramen at Ichiraku. Iruka had been talking his ear off next to him, talking about his new class in the academy, pausing in between bites to ask Naruto about any missions he had lately. He had been so out of it that he didn't realize that Iruka had stopped talking and was now staring at his younger counterpart, with concern written all over his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently, putting his chopsticks down and to the side of his now empty bowl. Naruto gave him a small, sad smile.

"Nothing, just thinking is all." He then picked up his own chopsticks and began to slowly eat his own bowl of ramen, trying to avoid the questioning glances that his old sensei was now giving him.

"Naruto…" he began, and waited for the young blonde to stop and give him attention.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, in confidence, right? It's not like you to be so…reserved." He said worriedly, hoping that that would make his friend give him a straight and honest answer.

"I just have been thinking a lot lately." Naruto began, slowly, making sure that he chose his words carefully. He didn't want to let on about Sakura's…situation.

"About what?" the academy teacher pressed a little more. Naruto gaged his old teacher out of the corner of his eye, wondering just how much he could really confide in him without giving it all away and really ruining it for his teammate.

"Just about my past, you know? I just wondered why people…hurt others." He was trying to be as vague as possible, either way Iruka was sure to worry about his train of thought.

"Naruto…it's something that's going to be hard to find out, especially since we are ninja and sometimes we have to hurt others as well, whether it is for a mission or protection. A lot of ninja much older than you have been trying to figure out why we were necessary to have in the first place. If people didn't hurt each other, there would be no wars, and more importantly, not such a crucial need of shinobi, especially in light of recent events." Naruto didn't feel any better after this, and decided that he was no longer hungry.

"Yeah…I guess you're right." he didn't know what else to say and his thoughts were even more muddled as he bid his teacher farewell, and raced back to his home.

Sakura had spent most of her 'vacation' from the Hospital trying to figure out a way out. It had been a very long time since she had actually contemplated leaving this hell-hole. However, this time she wasn't going to just move across town to the older districts or closer to the hospital, or anything like that. This time, she had a much larger plan, which wasn't really a plan since she had no idea what she was going to do once she was on her own.

As she slowly packed her things into a sealing scroll, so that her uncle wouldn't realize what she was doing, she snuck out her window and into the night.

As her feet hit the ground, she took off running towards the main gate of Konoha. Even though she knew it was against her better judgment, she knew that she wanted to see Kakashi first before she went through with it all. She had feelings for her ex-sensei for a while, long before he knew about the abuse, but had no way of telling him. She couldn't bring herself to do that, besides…it was Kakashi. She felt torn from how she spoke to him earlier, she knew he could definitely sympathize with her situation, they've spent many a nights after training talking about darker things, and even their lives. Kakashi had become her best friend before he knew about the abuse.

Now that he knew, she couldn't bring herself to open up to him anymore, and she knew that that was why he had such bad reactions to it, but she knew that he shouldn't get involved. Kami knows what Ryo would do to him. it was for his own good, it's not like he returned her feelings for him…

But why was she doing this to herself then? Why was she seeing him before she skipped town, much like Sasuke had done, but for a much better reason. Maybe it's because deep down, she knew that he could help her. in more ways than one. Maybe it was because she knew that he wouldn't let her leave…and deep inside, she knew that's what she wanted. Was for him to say that he wanted her to stay…

xxx

**Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed! Questions/concerns/comments? Review and lemme know! :)  
****Mucho loveo,**

**FH**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, I apologize for the wait D: Had some personal things going on, my mom's extremely ill. **

**Anyway, enough moping on my end, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :3 Thank you for all the lovely reviews so far! :3 they help me to keep going!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing *Tear***

**psst don'tforgettoreviewww!**

From rooftop to rooftop, she leapt above the streets of Konoha, with her destination clouding her mind. Her mind was arguing with her heart as she wondered just what she was looking for by going to Kakashi before leaving Konoha for good. Before she could ponder the question any further, she had arrived at her destination.

Before she could knock on the door, it swung inwards, revealing the man in question. Not a word was said as he swept over her with his one visible eye. Deciding it was okay, he stepped to the side of the doorway and nodded for her to enter his abode. Nervously, she stepped through the door and closed it quietly behind her.

As she turned around, she saw him sit down carefully on his couch and leaned back to gaze at her with a contemplative look on his visible features. Awkwardly she advanced towards him to sit across from him on the armchair.

"You're planning on leaving." He didn't ask, he had already resolved that that was what was going on when she came to his door. Taken aback, Sakura nearly squeaked at his sudden outburst…what scared her more was that he was speaking the truth. She bit her bottom lip and looked away from him.

"What…makes you say that?" she said timidly, trying not to betray any of her feelings or thoughts to the ever perceptive man across from her. A heavy sigh found its way from behind Kakashi's mask as he rubbed his temples.

"You disappear for a while, from both the team and the hospital, and then all of a sudden you show up on my doorstep looking lost in the middle of the night." His voice seemed tense with something that Sakura couldn't place, and part of her didn't want to place it at that moment…

"I don't know what you expected by coming here before you ran away." Kakashi added as he caught her eyes and forced the contact to stay.

"I'm sorry…I just wanted to…I don't know what I expected." She sighed, exasperated with the whole situation already.

"Sakura…I don't want you to go," he shifted uncomfortably on the couch as he fixed her with another stare, but this time it was one filled with pain, "I don't want to feel like I failed another one of my students…especially not you.." he whispered the last part, which made Sakura question if she had really heard it, let alone him actually saying it.

"I know…I know nobody would want me to go. I'll be back, I just can't be here anymore, not until I get stronger, emotionally and physically, and I have the will to go against him." her bottom lip quivered at the fact that she was being compared to Sasuke, and at the fact that she had to get out despite the pain.

"And I'm not going for the same reasons as Sasuke." She bit out bitterly, hoping that it would get the point across to him.

"No, you're not. Instead, you're just running away, and as your sensei, I figured that you at least learned from me that running will get you nowhere when it comes to these things. There are other ways to get out from under his thumb!" his voice was teetering on the edge of yelling. He couldn't explain why he was so exasperated with her, but even less he couldn't explain why is heart clenched in the most painful of ways with the idea of her not being in the same village anymore…

"What…what about when you're seen as a missing-nin, and ANBU hunters are dispatched after you?" his hands were now running through his unruly silver hair in an attempt to get a grasp on his quickly dissipating thoughts.

"I will have to believe in my hiding abilities." She spoke softly, knowing that he wasn't going to believe in her hiding abilities.

"Sakura…they're trained for finding 'good hiders'. I don't want you to have to leave your home for that fucking bastard!" Sakura flinched instantly at hearing her ex-sensei use a swear word, it was so unlike him to let his cool façade break even the tiniest bit but she had that effect on him, it seemed. She tried not to crumble in front of him as she stood up and made her way to the door leading out of his apartment. As she reached for the handle, he caught her wrist in a light but demanding grasp. She turned to face him, surprise written all over her face. Their eyes locked for a moment and something smoldered in his gray orb, something that she yet again couldn't place.

"Please…be careful." He sighed as he let her wrist slip from his grasp. As she closed the door behind her, she whispered something that if it weren't for his sensitive hearing, he wouldn't have heard,

"I'll miss you…Kakashi." Like the wind, she was gone.

To say that Tsunade was upset, was a bit of an understatement. More than a few sake bottles littered underneath and on top of her desk, soaking some important documents in its alcoholic liquid. Sai, Naruto and Kakashi stood before her, each of them at different stages of worry and surprise. Kakashi's, however, was more than a little bit staged.

"What's going on, baa-chan?" Naruto asked tentatively, he knew that if she was sporting a hangover that this could not go over well for him or anybody else on his team. Before she could answer the blonde's question, Sai spoke up with another one,

"Wait…before we get into this, where is Sakura-san?" Tsunade's eyebrow twitched and her bottom lip quivered in the slightest before she turned to look out the window overlooking the Leaf Village. Naruto shot Kakashi a questioning glance _maybe he knows what's going on? _ Naruto thought quietly.

"She…left the village." Naruto's jaw hit the ground, even Sai, as unemotional as he tended to be, followed Naruto's lead. Tsunade faced them with a hardness set in her eyes and jawline, causing the shinobi in front of her to straighten up.

"I'm not sure how long she's been gone for, I haven't seen her in a few days…" she dazed off again, while Kakashi spoke up next,

"We haven't seen her in a while, either. She stopped showing up for missions and practice…" Naruto bristled by his side and he knew he wouldn't be able to stay quiet for much longer.

"Do you guys know anything that would make her leave?" Tsunade asked, fixing them all with her honey colored eyes. Naruto seemed fit to burst at the seams, he just wanted to let everything out, if it meant that they could get rid of her damn uncle and he would bring her back himself.

"I do-" Kakashi's voice overlapped Naruto's

"I don't think that we would, seeing as we haven't seen her lately either." the death glare that Naruto gave him was enough to send most people running.

"What's your problem?" he growled as they left to Hokage building. Sai stayed as silent as ever, trying to gauge what was going on.

"Tsunade shouldn't know about the abuse." Kakashi said coolly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She has a right to know, you know." He rebutted. Kakashi found it hard to believe that this was the same brat who could barely take care of himself as an orphan when he was first put on his team.

"We made a promise to Sakura, Naruto. Or did you forget?" Kakashi bit out. Sai took this opportunity to change the topic,

"You know, you've been extremely off lately, Kakashi-san." Naruto's eyes bulged as he waited for Kakashi's harsh response. However, he was disappointed when nothing was said after Sai's interjection.

It's been a week. A week since she's left, and he's heard nothing about it, that was until the team was summoned to Tsunade's office again.

"I've summoned you here to give you a mission…one I'm sure you will be more than willing to embark on." Her mouth was set in a thin line as she addressed her favorite team of ninja.

"I have done some snooping around after Sakura's disappearance…" Kakashi's attention was now on the busty blonde that was their leader. Naruto's ear perked up as well as he was hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.

"I believe we have come to an understanding as to why she left." Her eyes swept over each shinobi that was present. With a deep breath, she continued,

"You guys are to find Sakura Haruno and bring her back, however, she will have to be detained when she comes back to Konoha." Naruto was the first to yell,

"What do you mean detained?" his voice resounded off of each the walls.

"I have had a few words with her uncle, who used to be a shinobi himself. He told me that Sakura had been acting weirdly a few days prior to her leaving. He believes that she had come into contact with Sasuke Uchiha, and had been planning this all along."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Naruto yelled again, this time a little bit of red shined through his deep-blue orbs. His canines grew longer as two ANBU stepped in from the shadows,

"I had a feeling that you guys would have this sort of a reaction, but Naruto…think of how we all feel about this. It's a stretch for me to be sending you guys on this mission in the first place….just get her back so we can see what really happened." Another Sake bottle was pulled out of the drawer in front of her. As she waved them off, she took a swig, reveling in the acidic feeling that swallowed her throat.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. A squad of ANBU moved through the forest soundlessly, the only sign of their journey being the thumping of their feet on the tree-branches as they flew above the forest ground.

"Hawk, I still haven't caught any wind of this Haruno woman." A woman with a cat painted white mask regarded her superior as they raced towards an unknown destination.

"Neither have I. We're going to have to retreat for now, we're almost in enemy territory, and if they find us moping about out here…it will mean war." Without another sound, the melted back from the way they came.

Somewhere under the tree they had stopped at, a pink-haired girl let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. She let the kunai slip soundlessly from her hand as she fell to the ground with the sudden drain of energy. It had been seven whole days since she decided to 'go rogue' she didn't know what was going on, but she was a bit worried at the fact that they were the only ANBU she had seen in her pursuit. Shakily, she began to set up came for herself, right on the edge of Hidden Sound territory. Somewhere in the back of her head, she thought if Sasuke had any of the same thoughts or worries that she did when he left the village. Part of her wished that he did, just so that she could say that she had some kind of connection with their wayward teammate. She didn't love him anymore, it was more like a brotherly and sisterly love she felt for him, she just wanted him to come back. As she thought about it, she realized just how much of a hypocrite she was now. Sure, she didn't leave for revenge, but in a way…she had. She was trying to get back at her uncle by leaving the only place she called home, her only friends – her real family - .

Kakashi's words still echoed in her head as she went over their conversation again and again. As she rolled over underneath a foliage of leaves she had made to cover herself with, she couldn't help but wonder if this was all according to the grand scheme of her life. What if she wasn't going down the right path?

As her eyes closed and sleep descended, she thought about her parents, if they would approve of her decisions.

**That's all she wrote, folks! I hope you enjoyed, and review if ya did (or ya didn't! I accept flames!) **

**peace & love,**

**-FH**


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